1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to receptacles, and more particularly to barrel-shaped containers having a pair of reciprocating closures. In a yet more specific manifestation, the invention pertains to deposit, collection, and distribution receptacles which may be used for laundry or other diverse items. In one very specific manifestation, the invention pertains to receptacles having a top inlet and side outlet.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mankind is gifted with many talents and skills that are quite exceptional in the animal kingdom. Unfortunately, the direct handling and control of many small articles is an area where natural physical talents are more limited than people would desire. Two arms and hands, each hand with five relatively large fingers, provide little with which to grasp and manipulate many discrete and either small or featherweight objects. As a result, the handling of small or featherweight objects has commonly been limited to numbers which may comfortably be directly controlled within one's arms and hands. In many instances, such direct handling and control is extremely inefficient, and other ways have been sought which will improve the efficiencies and effectiveness of the appendages that mankind has been provided with.
Quite commonly, small articles are collected in one or more receptacles, which may either be flaccid bags or rigid containers. Either at predetermined intervals, or once an adequate number of articles have been collected, the articles are either removed into an even larger receptacle, or transported within the receptacle to another location for further processing or activity. The use of a rigid exterior collection receptacle avoids inadvertent tearing of the outer container when impacted by foreign objects, in turn ensuring that the articles remain collected. The rigid container may also be used in combination with and provide support for a flaccid bag, maintaining the bag in proper position and orientation, thereby preventing the bag from falling over and spilling contents. Proper positioning and orientation also permits adjacent space to be used for other activities, thereby better using the space when space is limited. A flaccid bag provides a disposable liner for messy or hazardous materials, thereby preserving a rigid exterior container for additional use without the need for costly cleaning or disinfection. The flaccid bag additionally may be transported with the contents, and then collapsed once the contents are removed therefrom. Consequently, even when the flaccid bag is re-used, the bag will not require significant space when being returned for re-use. Consequently, it is very common and desirable to combine both flaccid bag and rigid exterior shell in the process of collection and transport of small or featherweight articles.
The scope of activities to which this process of collection and subsequent transport or processing is very large. For example, a person trying to maintain a yard having a combination of lawn and trees will be required from time to time to handle both grass clippings and leaves. Commonly, these clippings and leaves will be collected in a bag, and then the bag is used to transport the leaves and clippings to a municipal waste collection site, garbage pick-up, compost facility, or other suitable location. Similar collection and subsequent transport occurs with the collection of trash in waste receptacles, the handling of laundry in hampers and bags prior and subsequent to laundering, the handling of grains, feeds and foodstuffs in agriculture, and many, many other activities too extensive and diverse to list individually. In summary, in many diverse activities and industries, there exists a need for the collection of relatively small articles, followed by further handling subsequent thereto.
The collection of small articles in many cases is best effected using the force of gravity for assistance, rather than relying on a person's limited manipulative skills. So, for example, a person will most preferably place trash in a waste receptacle by dropping the trash into the receptacle from above. In the event there is some fumbling of the trash or aerial or wind deflection, the force of gravity will still draw the trash into the receptacle, consequently simplifying the collection therein. In contrast, the skill required to move many small items such as leaves, grass clippings or paper wrappers either sideways or vertically is often beyond that attainable by most persons. Even where the articles are more easily handled, such as with small linens and the like, gravity assistance reduces the amount of attention or concentration required by a person to ensure the article reaches the receptacle. As a result, the person may more quickly and completely focus concentration on other important tasks.
Vertical collection thereby simplifies collection of small difficult-to-handle articles. However, as the articles accumulate within the receptacle, so does their cumulative weight. While it is relatively easy to drop a few small articles vertically down into a receptacle, the raising of a substantially larger and heavier bag containing many small articles from within such a receptacle in a vertical direction may be far more difficult. In fact, such lifting is potentially very hazardous, and has been the cause of many workplace injuries.
The difficulty of such lifting may best be appreciated from the recognition that lifting requires the application of force opposite that of gravity, or in a vertical direction. In order to lift a bag from a receptacle, the force must then be placed vertically, at or about the horizontal center of the receptacle. For very small receptacles, this may be easily accomplished simply by standing directly over the receptacle. However, when the size of the receptacle starts increasing in size to begin to be sizable fractions of a person, the difficulty of removing a flaccid bag therefrom increases substantially. This is because a person cannot easily reach over the center of the receptacle. Instead, the person must somehow bend to place their arms more nearly over the center. One way this may be achieved is by bending their back, either to lean forward or sideways over the edge of the receptacle. In either case, the person's back and arms must then not only support the person, but also provide adequate support to leverage the lifting of the bag. Such forces are far greater than that which the musculo-skeletal system can safely accommodate, and, as aforementioned, all too often result in injury.
To avoid such hazard, many applications continue to be addressed solely with the flaccid container, without the added benefits that are provided by a rigid outer shell. For other applications, side discharge receptacles have been devised. Exemplary of one such receptacle is U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,103 by Bacskay, the teachings which are incorporated herein by reference, which discloses a laundry hamper which is filled from the top and emptied through a side panel. A rotating exterior sleeve has an opening that is aligned with an internal opening to gain side access. A similar side access is illustrated by Hanson et al in U.S. design patent D265,542, the teachings which are incorporated herein by reference. Unfortunately, neither of these designs provide full access to the bag. Consequently, removal of the bag is hazardous, both for the operator and for the bag. First, if the bag is relatively full, the opening may not be sufficiently large to permit the filled bag to pass through. In such case, a person must massage the contents within the bag to move the contents through the limited opening. This type of manipulation is both time consuming, and, depending upon the contents of the bag, may be hazardous if the bag should inadvertently rip or tear. If the person instead is in a hurry, the temptation will be to force the bag through the opening. In such case, the bag may be destroyed, and the receptacle may be toppled, neither which is desirable.
Avoiding the limitations created by partial openings, several artisans have created larger openings, such the drop-down side panel illustrated by Mario in U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,134, the teachings which are incorporated herein by reference. Unfortunately, such arrangements are hindered by the potential for ground contact that occurs with the container side, by the generally weakened structure resulting from the separation between receptacle halves, and also by the additional space and obstruction that is created when the container is opened. This last point is somewhat more subtle, but very important. In the Mario patent, while a bag may presumably be more accessible with the side open, in fact the contrary is true. With the side dropped, a person must stand even farther from the bag than they did with the side up. Some benefit is still obtained, since the bag does not have to be lifted vertically as far, but the person still has some vertical lifting required, at an awkward reach.